Riverside County to roll out 'Ag Trail' program

Riverside County plans to roll out Friday an "Ag Trail" website to promote more than 100 wineries, farms and fruit stands throughout the county that sell their products onsite and provide public tours.

The website's debut is scheduled to coincide with news conferences at Peltzer Farms in Temecula's Wine Country and at the Madison Street Produce fruit stand in Indio, where signs with a colorful Riverside County Ag Trail logo are to be unveiled, said Tom Freeman, a spokesman for the county Economic Development Agency.

The logo features oranges, grapes, pumpkins and hot air balloons.

It's a concept that Supervisors Jeff Stone and John Benoit proposed several months ago as a way to boost the county's $1 billion agricultural industry and capitalize on a growing agricultural tourism industry.

The website will give residents and visitors alike a road map to places where they can buy pumpkins for Halloween, check out petting zoos, turn their children loose in corn mazes, make plans for hay rides, and cut fresh Christmas trees for the holidays, county officials say.

And they will be able to “purchase fresh produce right out of the fields," Freeman said.

There will be listings for fruit stands and farmers markets, wineries, farms, and fairs and festivals such as the Temecula Valley Balloon & Wine Festival in June and the Riverside County Date Festival in winter.

Freeman said the website and all its listings will be available to view on Friday at the www.agtrail.rivcoca.org.

Each category of agricultural facilities will have a separate map. The website does not contain one comprehensive map showing all of the facilities and available activities.

“One map won’t do it all because it can’t hold it all," Freeman said.

The idea is something Riverside County officials borrowed from counties in Northern California.